Market highlights
- Crypto traded relatively flat throughout a quiet macro week.
- MARA Holdings to acquire a 1,200-acre site in Texas for BTC mining and AI infrastructure.
- Ethereum Foundation using AI-powered "red team" to identify network vulnerabilities.
- U.S. SEC is expected to release its long-awaited "Regulation Crypto" proposal this month.
- A bipartisan U.S. housing bill banning a U.S. CBDC through to 2030 became law.
- Swift launched blockchain-based ledger, enabling 24/7 cross-border transfers.
Macro market overview
The rally continued for many TradFi risk assets this week, with the exception of the Dow Jones. Market participants rotated back into artificial intelligence (AI) stocks after a brief pullback across the sector last week.
In geopolitics, recent peace talks between the U.S. and Iran haven't progressed meaningfully as the two nations launched fresh strikes this week. Iran struck a Cyprian container ship in the Strait of Hormuz, while the U.S. conducted three consecutive nights of strikes on Iran. These latest strikes contravene the memorandum of understanding reached in June. As a result, oil gained almost 5% throughout the week, currently trading around US$78 per barrel.
It was a quiet week in economic data. The U.S. Federal Open Market Committee's (FOMC) June meeting minutes were released. "Many" of the Fed's 19 officials anticipate that the current federal funds rate will be unchanged by year end, though "many" also said rates may be higher by year end. The divided Fed is primarily due to opposing views on the path of inflation in the U.S. While the risk of tariff- and oil-driven inflation may have subsided, some officials remain worried about the inflationary impacts of the AI infrastructure buildout.
This week's calendar is busier across the economy and markets. Market participants will presumably be watching the U.S. core consumer price index (CPI) release for June, Fed Chair Kevin Warsh's House Committee hearing, and the U.S. core produce price index (PPI). Second quarter earnings also kick off this week, with major U.S. banks, United Airlines, Netflix, and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. amongst the many companies reporting.
Weekly performance: S&P 500 +1.2%, Dow Jones -0.5%, Nasdaq +1.7%.
Looking ahead:
- U.S. core CPI - Tuesday, July 14
- U.S. Fed Chair Warsh testifies - Tuesday, July 14 to Thursday, July 16
- U.S. core PPI - Wednesday, July 15
Crypto Market Performance
Market Cap: $2.14T (-2.8%)
All crypto sectors saw minor declines, pulling back from the bounce seen last week. A lack of broader macro developments or shocks presumably contributed to the staid week across the market. The crypto fear and greed index remains in fear territory at 28.
Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future results.
Bitcoin (BTC)
- Opened the week at US$63,587, declined to a weekly low of US$61,481 on Wednesday, July 8, and saw some upward momentum into the weekend as sentiment improved and exchange-traded fund (ETF) flows recovered some of the prior week's outflows. Bitcoin declined into the new week, coinciding with renewed Middle East tensions, and is now trading around US$61,820 (-3.7% 7D).
- BTC dominance ranged between 58.3% and 59% this week.
- Bitcoin investment products saw inflows of US$197.7 million.
MARA Holdings shares jumped after the bitcoin miner agreed to acquire a 1,200-acre powered site in Texas with access to up to 2 gigawatts of electricity. The company plans to develop the site for both bitcoin mining and AI infrastructure, significantly expanding its digital infrastructure strategy and long-term compute capacity.
In bitcoin buying (and selling) news:
- Empery Digital sold 1,400 bitcoin (US$87.1 million), which equates to almost half its holdings. The proceeds were used to repay debt, fund a property acquisition, and cover legal costs for ongoing stakeholder litigation. The company now holds 1,514 BTC, worth US$73.9 million.
Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future results.
Ethereum (ETH)
- Opened the week at US$1,784, declined to a low of US$1,711 on Wednesday, July 8, and saw some upward momentum into the end of the week on improving crypto sentiment. Ethereum is now trading around US$1,760 (-2.8% 7D).
- Ethereum dominance ranged between 9.8% and 10% this week.
- Ethereum-focused funds saw inflows of US$84.3 million.
The Ethereum Foundation is using AI-powered "red team" agents to proactively identify vulnerabilities across Ethereum's infrastructure, including cryptographic code and smart contracts. The system has already uncovered real bugs, but researchers stress human verification remains essential, as distinguishing genuine vulnerabilities from AI-generated false positives is now the biggest challenge.
In Ethereum buying news:
- BitMine bought 27,801 ETH (US$49 million). The company now holds over 5.7 million ETH, or around 4.8% of supply.
Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future results.
Altcoins
The altcoin season index is currently 57, which is leaning toward altcoin season, although not the conditions of a broad-based rally.
New week, new chain
- BNB declined by 2% despite news that BNB Chain plans to launch a new layer-1 blockchain designed for AI agents, high-frequency trading and automated payments. Targeting 100,000+ transactions per second with sub-second finality, the network will also introduce privacy upgrades and research quantum-resistant security. A testnet is planned for late 2026, with mainnet expected in early 2027.
Crypto ETF News
Digital asset investment products saw inflows of US$276.6 million as the recent risk-off sentiment eased. Much of the week's flows came at the beginning of the week before declining, suggesting that rising Middle East tensions and division over the FOMC's interest rate trajectory may have seen market participants reduce risk toward the end of the week.
In altcoins, Solana and HYPE saw inflows of US$2.1 million and US$6.4 million, respectively. XRP saw outflows of US$7.1 million.
Other crypto news
- The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is expected to release its long-awaited "Regulation Crypto" proposal this month, introducing safe harbour rules for digital assets. The framework would create fundraising exemptions for crypto projects and clarify when sufficiently decentralised tokens are no longer treated as securities.
- A bipartisan U.S. housing bill became law automatically after President Trump declined to sign or veto it. Buried within the legislation is a provision banning the Federal Reserve from issuing a U.S. central bank digital currency (CBDC) until the end of 2030. The President refused to sign the bill as the Senate has not passed the controversial SAVE America Act.
- Key Senate Democrats are demanding hearings into President Trump's crypto businesses after disclosures revealed he earned more than US$1.2 billion from crypto in 2025. These senators are each members of the Senate's Banking, Investigations, Homeland Security, Judiciary, and Finance committees. They argue his financial ties create conflicts of interest as his administration shapes crypto regulation, particularly as United Arab Emirates royals purchased a 49% stake in the Trump family's World Liberty Financial last year.
- Swift launched a blockchain-based ledger pilot with 17 global banks across six continents, enabling 24/7 cross-border transfers using tokenised deposits. While customers can move funds outside banking hours, final settlement still occurs through existing payment rails, preserving current compliance and risk controls while advancing digital asset infrastructure.
- Circle shares rose 8.4% after the stablecoin issuer received final approval from the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) to establish Circle National Trust, a federally regulated trust bank. Similarly, Sony Bank received OCC approval to establish Connectia Trust, a national trust bank that will issue a U.S. dollar-backed stablecoin.
- Robinhood Chain saw a strong launch, quickly becoming one of crypto's busiest networks. In its first week, the Arbitrum-powered blockchain processed more than 17 million transactions, attracted 350,000 active addresses, reached US$250 million in total value locked (TVL), and surpassed US$1 billion in decentralised exchange (DEX) trading volume, overtaking Hyperliquid in activity.
- AVAX One, a Nasdaq-listed company focused on accumulating Avalanche's AVAX token, has regained compliance with Nasdaq's minimum US$1 share price requirement after a 1-for-12 reverse stock split. The company is now focused on expanding its AVAX treasury, bitcoin mining operations and AI infrastructure business.
- The European Union plans to revise its Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) framework in 2027 to regulate non-EU stablecoin issuers operating in Europe. The review, prompted by rapid U.S. stablecoin adoption, may also expand MiCA to cover tokenised payments and deposits, with stakeholder consultations underway until September.
Inside the Markets
June saw U.S. TradFi assets retreat from their recent all-time highs — the Dow Jones excepted — as market participants rotated out of volatile tech and artificial intelligence (AI) equities into blue chips. Sell pressure spread across crypto too, with continued Middle East uncertainty, a hawkish U.S. Federal Reserve and ongoing ETF outflows driving risk-off sentiment.
In this month’s Inside the Markets, we unpack June’s deepening crypto sell off — and the key catalysts shaping the market through July.
from Caleb & Brown Cryptocurrency Brokerage.
